Admin-Editable Sidebox - Support Thread

[godt]

Thanks for your reply gjh42. You are right of course. And in my state, I added a reply here, and failed that as well. I realised after some time that where I was assiduous in backing up my css file before I messed about, I was making changes to my test file but copying over my backup file through ftp.

I know what you're thinking. There isn't even much to learn here for someone else. My angst is heightened by my noticing that you replied at 3.30am.

[gjh42]

Actually, it was 9:31 pm for me when I responded:)

If you were copying over your backup file, that would indicate that it was on the server as a CSS file. This can lead to untold headaches, as any style*.css file in the /css/ folder will be autoloaded and applied, so your backup could keep changes to the "real" file from taking effect. If you need to keep a backup on your server, rename it from .css to .css-bak or anything else that will not be processed as code. (".bak" is discouraged by I think PCI for security reasons.)

[godt]

Kind of working in reverse. Whenever I work on site files, I copy the current file to a backup directory on my PC by ftp, as well as to my working directory. That way, I can always go back to the beginning. The problem is that, happily - or otherwise working on changes to my working file, I can blindly copy over the backup file if it was the last I accessed through ftp.

Guess what? My changes have no effect. Sometimes it takes me a while...

And of course, it must be more complex than that.

[shags38]

zc 1.3.9h
Hello,

I am having trouble with an 'additional' sidebox (the original sidebox is fine). Sidebox_2 is showing up on the page OK and the box header title is correct and the box shows up under Admin>Define Page Editor however the 'content' for the box will not load - it does show up correctly on includes/languages/english/html_includes/define_editable_sidebox_2_content.php - I have checked and rechecked the 'duplicated' files for errors and cannot see any - I think maybe it is a naming convention or something with the second box - here are the files for sidebox_2;
includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/define_editable_sidebox_2_content.php
// Enter your preferred header for the sidebox (or leave it blank) by editing between the 2nd set of single quotes below.
// If you have multiple editable sideboxes, you will also need to change the 1st parameter
// e.g. BOX_HEADING_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_2 or something more memorable if you prefer
define('BOX_HEADING_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_2', 'Xmas Discount');[this does show up correctly on header]

// If you change the name of the html_include file with the sidebox content, put the new name,
// without the ",php" suffix between the 2nd set of single quotes below.
// If you have multiple editable sideboxes, you will also need to change the 1st parameter
// e.g. DEFINE_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_NAME_2
define('DEFINE_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_NAME_2', 'define_editable_sidebox_2_content');[probelm?]

includes/modules/sideboxes/editable_sidebox_2.php

// test if box should display
$show_editable_sidebox_2 = true;

$define_sidebox_2 = zen_get_file_directory(DIR_WS_LANGUAGES . $_SESSION['language'] . '/html_includes/', DEFINE_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_2_NAME, 'true');

if ($show_editable_sidebox_2 == true) {
require($template->get_template_dir('tpl_editable_sidebox_2.php',DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'sideboxes'). '/tpl_editable_sidebox_2.php');
$title = BOX_HEADING_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_2;
$title_link = false;
require($template->get_template_dir($column_box_default, DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'common') . '/' . $column_box_default);
}
?>

includes/templates/template_default/tpl_editable_sidebox_2.php

*/

$content = '';
$content .= '<div id="' . str_replace('_', '-', $box_id . 'Content') . '" class="sideBoxContent">';

// this is where the content that you have via the Admin is pulled in.
$content .= file_get_contents($define_sidebox_2);

$content .= '</div>';
?>

Looking forward to some assistance please.

cheers, Mike

[godt]

I recall similar issues and in the end sidestepped them by using the Blank Sidebox:

http://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=80

[gjh42]

I notice this:

// e.g. DEFINE_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_NAME_2
define('DEFINE_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_NAME_2', 'define_editable_sidebox_2_content');[probelm?]

includes/modules/sideboxes/editable_sidebox_2.php
...
$define_sidebox_2 = zen_get_file_directory(DIR_WS_LANGUAGES . $_SESSION['language'] . '/html_includes/', DEFINE_EDITABLE_SIDEBOX_2_NAME, 'true');

Using a different form of the constant name will cause it to be unrecognized.

[shags38]

Blank Sidebox query - how can the blank space between top of box border and content and bottom of box border and content be reduced or deleted?

cheers,
Mike

P.S. Thanks Glen for your observation in the above post - I have reverted to using 'Blank-Sidebox' as for some reason or other I find the re-naming of files easier